23-year-old umpire gets 'dream' call to Little League World Series after a decade of volunteering



A 23-year-old who has been volunteering as a Little League umpire for a decade is getting rewarded with a chance to officiate the league's World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

James Farque of Summerville, South Carolina, said he umpired his first game at age 13 after realizing he was not equipped to advance very far as a player in the sport.

'I pride myself on volunteering and giving back to the community.'

"I realized I would not excel at the high school level, so I still wanted to stay connected to the game, so I started umpiring," Farque said. "Umpired my first game [at age 13] and haven't stopped since."

He told WCIV-TV that he's proud to be called up to the Little League Baseball World Series.

"This is every Little League umpire's dream," he added. "It's a tremendous honor; there's only 20 people each year that are chosen."

His performance at four games of the contest will determine whether he gets assigned further spots. He said he is going to try not to be intimidated by the bright lights of the ESPN coverage of the event.

"That's a big aspect of everything. Big mental side of umpiring is being in the spotlight," Farque said. "Then again, it's just another baseball game. Anytime you step on the field, it's just another baseball game. Just a higher stage in front of more people."

He said that volunteering as an umpire is how he gives back to the community.

"Little League is run by volunteers. It prides itself on volunteerism," Farque added. "I pride myself on volunteering and giving back to the community."

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Farque said that he has aspirations to make it to college baseball or the major leagues, but he'll always return to the Lowcountry of South Carolina where he's from.

"I don't think I can ever hang it up. Even if I do the championship game at Williamsport, I still have this to come back to," Farque said.

"The local level is what I enjoy the most, getting to mentor these kids and the sense of community around here," he added.

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Good Samaritan saved the life of mom who lost both legs in 'catastrophic' boating accident, police say



The mother of three children is recovering from a "catastrophic" boating accident where only a "miracle" saved her life, according to Idaho police.

The unidentified woman was tubing and enjoying the day at Bear Lake when she was sucked into the propellers of a boat and her legs were severed.

'She just looked at me, and she just said, 'Go get your tourniquet.''

Dan Taylor recalled to KSL-TV that he was just getting to the lake with his family when he heard the commotion from the tragic accident.

"Everybody was out on the bow shouting, 'Help, help, please help,'" Taylor said. "Somebody on the boat said, 'Get the kids out of here.'"

Taylor said his wife was closer to the boat and surmised the direness of the situation before he could.

"She told me to get my paddleboard up to the side of the boat to use as a gurney," he said. "She just looked at me, and she just said, 'Go get your tourniquet.'"

He said both the woman's legs were missing, and he and his family members immediately applied a tourniquet to one leg, then used a strap on the other leg. It took medics between 10 and 15 minutes to arrive to the scene.

"The victim was so courageous, and she was conscious through the whole thing," he added. "Her spirit of just staying in the moment and staying calm was nothing I ever could have conceived in a situation like that."

Taylor said he had a tourniquet in his van in case of emergencies, and the topic had come up just a few weeks prior at a mountain biking first-aid class.

He remembers praying for the woman until an ambulance and helicopter arrived.

"An hour in that situation just felt like an eternity," he said. "With bleeding that severe, minutes can be something that ends somebody's life."

The Bear Lake County Sheriff's Office praised Taylor in a post on its Facebook page.

"These actions ultimately saved her life," police said.

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Taylor says he is grateful that he was at the right place to help the woman.

"I know the term 'miracle' gets thrown around a lot, but it was absolutely miraculous to think about, of all the places that they could have been," he said, "and how many people in that whole beach and how many of them have a tourniquet, and of those people, how many of those people had a first-aid training and it was front of mind three weeks ago?"

A GoFundMe account was set up for the woman, who was described as a "devoted wife, loving mother of three, and cherished friend." The police department confirmed that the funds would go to the woman involved.

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Check out what these heroic middle schoolers do after their bus driver passes out behind the wheel as bus travels down road



Imagine you're traveling down a road in a bus, and your driver suddenly passes out. What emotions would you and other passengers feel in that moment? Surely it's a terrifying situation.

Now imagine that scenario taking place aboard a bus filled with middle schoolers — and the only adult around is the one who just went limp behind the wheel.

'It started gaining speed. I didn't know it had air brakes, so whenever I clicked the brakes, it about threw me out the windshield.'

Well, that's exactly what happened aboard a Mississippi school bus recently, WLOX-TV reported.

Driver Leah Taylor experienced a medical emergency while operating a Hancock Middle School bus on the afternoon of April 22, and she suddenly passed out, the station said.

The terrifying scene was captured on bus surveillance video.

"She kind of fell over, like flopped over, and everyone started standing up," McKenzy Finch, a sixth grader, told WLOX.

Amazingly, the middle schoolers took fast action and worked together.

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Jackson Casnave, a sixth grader, grabbed the steering wheel, the station said.

"I saw that the bus was veering off to the side. Then I grabbed the wheel," Jackson told WLOX.

"It was just adrenaline pumping," he added.

Darrius Clark, also a sixth grader, hit the brakes as the bus started going faster, the station added.

"So she passed out again, and then the bus started rolling forward. And, I mean, it started gaining speed," Darrius told WLOX. "I didn't know it had air brakes, so whenever I clicked the brakes, it about threw me out the windshield."

Kayleigh Clark, an eighth grader, called 911, the station said, and Destiny Cornelius, also an eighth grader, gave the bus driver her medicine.

“I saw her medication in her hand, and I saw her reaching for it," Destiny noted to WLOX. "I knew that's what she needed."

Video soon shows the bus having finally come to a stop as the students continue to shout instructions and rally around Taylor, their driver.

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Melissa Saucier, principal of Hancock Middle School, told the station that her students handled the emergency correctly.

"I'm not surprised to hear that our kids remained calm and acted swiftly," Saucier added to WLOX. "This emergency situation could have definitely been detrimental. And they handled it exactly how they should have, and we're extremely proud of them."

In fact, the students later were recognized for their actions at a school pep rally, the station said.

As for Taylor, she told WLOX she's back to normal, feeling better, and naturally very grateful and thankful for her young passengers.

"I'm very proud of them," she told the station. "I couldn't ask for any better students than my students on my bus. I love every single one of them."

"I'm gonna think of how they saved my life," she added.

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8 skiers dead after deadliest avalanche in California history — 1 still missing



Rescuers found the bodies of eight skiers after an avalanche in northern California, and one skier still missing is likely dead as well.

The group of 15 skiers were returning from the Frog Lake backcountry huts near Lake Tahoe after a three-day trip when they were hit by the avalanche.

'Our mission now is to get them home.'

Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said the sheriff's office received a report of the avalanche on Tuesday at about 11:30 a.m.

Moon said crews couldn't reach the site until 5:30 p.m. because of the weather conditions that included high winds and freezing temperatures.

The survivors, which included five clients and and an employee of the Black Mountain Guides, made a makeshift shelter for themselves.

Rescue workers got the survivors to safety before searching for those missing and finding their bodies. The last missing skier is now presumed dead.

The survivors included two women and four men between the ages of 33 and 55 years old. Of the nine that had been missing, seven were women and two were men.

"Our mission now is to get them home," Moon said.

The guide company released a statement about the incident.

"The leadership team at Blackbird Mountain Guides is working in full coordination with the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office and Nevada County Search and Rescue to support the ongoing rescue operation," the company's statement reads.

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"Blackbird Mountain Guides is in direct contact with the emergency contacts of the affected clients and guides and is providing them with regular updates as verified information becomes available," they added.

The incident is the deadliest avalanche in California history and the deadliest in the nation's history since 1981 when 11 climbers were killed on Mount Rainier in Washington state.

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'True heroes': Brothers rescue cop from cruiser engulfed in flames — and credit their mother, who taught them the Golden Rule



Atlanta police last week shared a video report they said demonstrates that "in moments of crisis, true heroes emerge."

On the night of Oct. 21, Officer Malik Safi was responding to a call for backup — but he never arrived at the scene, officials said.

'I feel extremely proud of them both. I feel like they did exactly what they were taught to do — to help and have empathy for other people.'

Instead, Safi crashed into a house, setting both the residence and his patrol vehicle on fire, officials said.

WSB-TV reported that Safi also suffered serious injuries in the crash and was trapped inside the vehicle.

But fortunately brothers Keshun Robinson and Ryan Beck — and others — were around to help.

In fact, they braved the flames and pulled Safi out of his burning cruiser and to safety. That heroic action is captured, in part, on Safi's body-worn camera.

“We just went off our heart,” Beck later said. “[It’s] how we was raised, you know. We didn't want to see nobody suffer in that type of situation. We just hopped out and sprung into action."

Robinson added, “We just tried to comfort [the officer] and let him know that he wasn’t there by himself."

But the danger wasn't over.

Soon gunshots were ringing out — and Robinson said "one of [the officer's] guns that was in the car actually started going off."

With that, police said the group had to move Safi yet again, this time pulling him all the way to a sidewalk.

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What's more, an unknown woman seen and heard on Safi's bodycam video got on police radio and told dispatch he needed help.

WSB said the officer was taken to a hospital, and police noted that the "bravery and selflessness" of the two brothers and the other Good Samaritans "saved Officer Safi’s life."

Later Beck noted to police that his mother raised him and his brother to live by the Golden Rule: "Treat people how you want to be treated."

Their mother, Keziah Reed, also appeared in the police department's video report and said, "I feel extremely proud of them both. I feel like they did exactly what they were taught to do — to help and have empathy for other people."

Robinson added that perhaps the best part of the experience was when his own son called him a hero. "It means the world to me. It lit up my day. It made me a proud human being — not even [as] a father — just a proud person."

Police noted that "these residents remind us that community truly means neighbors looking out for one another when it matters most. From all of us at the Atlanta Police Department, thank you for your extraordinary courage."

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'It was me and God every night': Hunter was lost in the wilderness for nearly 3 weeks — until God told him 'let's go walking'



If you've ever been lost in the wilderness, even for a few moments, the sudden realization that you have no idea where you are — or how to get back on track — can be terrifying.

Ron Dailey had to endure that awful feeling for nearly three weeks.

'Nobody really knew where I was.'

Dailey, 65, had packed for a half-day solo hunting trip on Oct. 13 in the Sierra National Forest, KCBS-TV reported, adding that the area is a dense wilderness in central California near Fresno.

However, a wrong turn would extend his trip by quite a bit.

"I went down this hill. I'm going, 'Oh, God, this ain't good,'" Dailey recalled to the station in regard to the moment he knew he was lost. "So I turned around and tried to get out. I couldn't get out."

A storm hit that evening and left two feet of snow on top of his broken-down truck and all around him, Dailey recalled to KCBS, adding that he thought, "Oh, man, I'm in trouble."

RELATED: Christian students work with airman to save mother and children pinned under car: 'Oh, thank God, the kids are good'

His family contacted the Fresno County Sheriff's Office when he didn't return as planned, and a massive search was under way from the air and on land, the station said.

KCBS said the rescue effort eventually stretched across multiple counties and required responders to look for Dailey in rugged terrain.

Soon Dailey's survival instincts kicked in, the station said, adding that he had 14 bottles of water and about 900 calories' worth of food, all of which he tried to ration for as long as possible.

But eventually his food and water ran out, and Dailey recalled to KCBS that he "didn't know if rescue was gonna come" because "nobody really knew where I was."

Well, he did have a most important companion, it turns out.

"It was me and God every night," Dailey told the station in regard to how prayer and his Christian faith helped him when things looked bleakest.

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He shared with KCBS that soon "God woke me up at 6:45 Saturday morning. He goes, 'Ron, get your boots on. Let's go walking.'"

With that, Dailey abandoned his truck and estimated that he walked about 10 to 12 miles through the wilderness, the station said, stopping and sitting down often due to the altitude. He reportedly fell several times and lost his phone.

KCBS said finally three rescuers appeared.

"The Christian community just pulled together and kept praying and praying and praying," Dailey recounted to the station. "They wouldn't let me die. Neither would God."

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Mom of 5, pastor both fatally shoot escaped monkeys; authorities provide update on frantic search for animals



A Mississippi mother fatally shot a monkey to protect her children after the "aggressive" animals escaped from an overturned truck, according to multiple reports.

Police said a truck transporting 21 rhesus monkeys from Tulane University's National Biomedical Research Center in New Orleans overturned on Interstate 59 north of Heidelberg, Mississippi — approximately 85 miles southeast of the state capital of Jackson.

'I hate that it happened, but I'm going to protect my kids at all costs.'

On Oct. 28, the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement, "A truck hauling monkeys from Tulane University has overturned around the 117-mile marker, north of Heidelberg. It has been reported that several monkeys are on the loose."

Police stressed, "Do not approach the monkeys if you see one. Call 911. They do pose potential health threats and are aggressive."

Officials from Tulane noted that the university wasn’t transporting the monkeys, and the animals do not belong to the university, according to NBC News.

Tulane told WTVT-TV, "Non-human primates at the Tulane National Biomedical Research Center are provided to other research organizations to advance scientific discovery."

The sheriff's office initially warned residents that the animals "carry hepatitis C, herpes, and COVID" based on preliminary reports by the truck’s occupants.

However, the biomedical research company PreLabs — which owns and was transporting the animals — told WDAM-TV, "The animals being transported were not infected with COVID-19, hepatitis, and herpes as indicated in certain news articles."

PreLabs added, "The animals were being lawfully transported in compliance with all federal and state regulations to a licensed research facility."

At the time of the car accident, 13 rhesus monkeys were quickly recovered at the crash site, according to another report from WDAM-TV. Meanwhile, another five monkeys were killed near the crash site — but three escaped, according to Jasper County Sheriff Randy Johnson.

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Jessica Bond Ferguson — a 35-year-old mother with five children who range in age from 4 to 16 — was alerted by her 16-year-old son about a monkey running around the property of their home near Heidelberg.

Ferguson said she got out of bed, grabbed her gun and her cell phone, then went outside to locate the monkey, which was roughly 60 feet away.

Ferguson told the Associated Press, "I did what any other mother would do to protect her children."

The mom recalled, "I shot at it, and it just stood there, and I shot again, and he backed up — and that’s when he fell."

"If it attacked somebody’s kid, and I could have stopped it, that would be a lot on me," Ferguson declared. "It's kind of scary and dangerous that they are running around, and people have kids playing in their yards."

She also blasted those responsible for the monkeys' escape, telling TMZ that "I wish it didn't have to happen that way. I just wish they took better measures in taking care of it and trying to find them."

Ferguson continued, "I feel like if they wanted us to do something else, then they should've had a search team out. They could've had drones flying around. They could've taken more measures to look for these monkeys and prevented this from happening."

She stressed, "I hate that it happened, but I'm going to protect my kids at all costs."

In addition, a small-town pastor neutralized one of the other escaped monkeys.

On Monday, Pastor George Barnett was in his car traveling with his two young children and his wife to visit his mother at her home in Vossburg when his wife allegedly spotted a monkey near the highway.

NBC News reported the monkey "scampered into a tree and flashed its teeth."

With that, Barnett, 45, grabbed his rifle and fired twice, the news network reported, and the monkey fell to the ground.

Barnett told NBC News, "As soon as I saw it, the only thing I thought about was, 'What if this thing attacks one of those people that I grew up with, or my children?'"

On Thursday, the last escaped monkey was captured.

The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks told the Associated Press that a resident who lives near the crash site told authorities about the monkey's location, and authorities "successfully recovered" the animal.

The Mississippi Highway Patrol is investigating the cause of the crash.

PreLabs and the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to Blaze News' request for comment.

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62-year-old woman injured after being dragged into the woods by 7-foot alligator



A 62-year-old woman is healing from her injuries after a massive alligator attacked her and dragged her into the woods in Florida.

The woman from Fort Myers was hiking on a remote trial with two other people at the Bird Rockery Swamp Trail in Naples on Sunday morning when the alligator attacked.

'We were doing a wet walk, and the gator jumped out and grabbed her.'

The Collier County Sheriff's Office said officers responded to a frantic call about the attack at about 9:40 a.m.

"Hello, we're out here, and our friend just got attacked by an alligator," the witness said.

The report said the trio had been hiking on a watery portion of the trail and did not notice the large alligator. It latched onto the woman's leg, and one of the other hikers tried to help her as the alligator tried to drag her away.

Eventually she was freed but suffered serious injuries.

"We're out of the water. We were doing a wet walk, and the gator jumped out and grabbed her," the witness said on the emergency call.

RELATED: Florida man runs over 11-foot alligator with his truck after seeing it dragging his elderly neighbor into pond

The woman was airlifted to Gulf Coast Medical Center for treatment of the injuries on her leg and arm. Her condition was not released.

Florida Gulf Coast University assistant biology professor Christina Anaya told WFTX-TV that it is the time of the year that female alligators can be aggressive if they are disturbed.

"Mating season is between April and June, so this is about the time the hatchlings are out — and females protect them for well over a year," Anaya said.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said that trappers removed an alligator from the area.

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VIDEO: Florida motorcyclists sent 'flying' headfirst after colliding with alligator on highway



Why did the alligator cross the road?

For two motorcyclists in Florida, there was no punch line, as one alligator that crossed a busy highway in Florida sent the pair "flying" headfirst after slamming into the reptile last weekend.

The motorcyclists found themselves in the dangerous situation on an interstate in Orange County — roughly 30 miles north of Orlando.

'I didn't even have a second to do anything.'

A group of bikers were riding on Interstate 4 on May 31 when they encountered the toothy road hazard.

An alligator was crossing the busy interstate when one of the motorcyclists crashed into the gator.

Motorcyclist Cameron Gilmore told WESH-TV, "I saw it, like, 10 feet in front of me, and I just, you know, I thought — I knew I was going to hit it."

"It kind of just happened so quick," Gilmore explained to WESH. "I didn't even have a second to do anything. Couldn't put on the brakes or not. And I just had to hold on."

The collision with the alligator sent the biker flying.

"I flipped over the handlebars and landed on my head on I-4 and rolled," Gilmore added to the station. "Somebody said two or three rolls on, you know, head-first, and then I start flying for a long way."

A 25-year-old female motorcyclist trailing Gilmore also smashed into the gator, WESH said.

Video recorded by a fellow motorcyclist shows the alligator and a person in the middle of the highway. The clip shows the bikers pulling off to the shoulder and then helping the injured bikers.

RELATED: Deputies shoot growling Florida man dead after 'bizarre' standoff — and just moments after he survived alligator attack: Cops

Gilmore and the woman were both rushed to the HCA Lake Monroe Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to WFLA-TV.

Gilmore told WESH his right leg was "real numb and hurt," and the station said he suffered a couple of broken bones.

A 67-year-old from DeLeon Springs, Gilmore noted to WESH that the crash will not deter him from getting back on his bike: "Nobody wants me to, but I, yeah, I will. I'm not scared."

Meanwhile, agents with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission were dispatched to check on the injured alligator, WESH said. The condition of the gator was not known, according to WFLA.

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Delta reveals information about pilots flying plane that crashed in Canada; CEO lauds flight crew for performing 'heroically'



Delta Air Lines has released information about the pilots who flew the plane that crash-landed in Canada. The airline released the information to counter "disinformation" posted on social media about the flight crew of Delta Flight 4819.

On Thursday night, Delta Air Lines released a statement to correct "misleading assertions" about the pilots of the Bombardier CRJ-900LR jet that flipped upside down while attempting to land at the Toronto Pearson International Airport on Monday.

'You start thinking about your loved ones — my wife and children — and you just try to brace yourself.'

"Endeavor Air and Delta are correcting disinformation in social media containing false and misleading assertions about the flight crew of Endeavor Air 4819," the statement began.

Delta said the captain of the plane was hired in October 2007 by Mesaba Airlines, which merged with Pinnacle Airlines in 2012 to form Endeavor Air. Following a Chapter 11 reorganization, Endeavor Air became a wholly owned regional subsidiary of Delta Air Lines.

The statement noted, "He has served both as an active-duty captain and in pilot training and flight safety capacities."

Delta stressed, "Assertions that he failed training events are false. Assertions that he failed to flow into a pilot position at Delta Air Lines due to training failures are also false."

Regarding the first officer on the chaotic flight, she was hired by Endeavor Air in January 2024 and completed training last April.

"She has been flying for Endeavor since that time," Delta stated. "Her flight experience exceeded the minimum requirements set by U.S. federal regulations. Assertions that she failed training events are false."

CBS News reported that the first officer graduated from a university with an accredited and "well-respected aviation program," which enabled her to "start working with fewer than 1,500 hours under a Restricted Air Transport Pilot certificate."

The first officer surpassed the 1,500-hour mark and earned her full Airline Transport Pilot certificate, which is the highest-level pilot certification in the United States, in January 2023.

The airline company said both flight crew members are qualified and certified by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said during a "CBS Mornings" interview that aired on Wednesday, "Our Endeavor crew performed heroically, but also as expected. The reality is that safety is embedded into our system.”

Bastian added, "We’re a very competitive industry across the U.S. airlines, but there’s one thing we do not compete on, and that’s safety. We all work together, and we all learn from each other."

"All these pilots train for these conditions," Bastian continued. "They fly under all kinds of conditions at all the airports in which we rate, so there's nothing specific with respect to experience that I'd look to."

The pilots attempted to land the commercial airliner at the Toronto Pearson International Airport, which had been hit by two winter storms in the days leading up to the plane crash.

Videos show the plane experiencing a rough landing, which may have caused the landing gear to collapse. The plane burst into flames, the right wing was torn off, and the aircraft flipped upside down.

Nate Richie, a passenger on the Delta flight, recalled the moment the plane rolled on the runway.

"We were jolted and started to roll," Richie told Fox News on Friday. "[There were] explosions and fire on the opposite side of the plane as we started rolling, [with] things flying through the air and bodies being jolted around."

Richie said special moments in his life flashed before his eyes, and he started to think: "This is it."

"You start thinking about your loved ones — my wife and children — and you just try to brace yourself," Richie explained.

Miraculously, there were no fatalities in the crash landing. However, 21 passengers were injured and needed to be hospitalized due to the air travel emergency.

As of Thursday morning, all 21 passengers were released from the hospital.

"The Delta and Endeavor families are grateful that all those injured Monday have been released from the hospital, and we extend our thanks to everyone who provided care to them over the past few days," Bastian said in a statement.

As Blaze News reported on Thursday, Delta Air Lines has offered the 76 passengers a compensation package of $30,000 apiece. The offer has "no strings attached," according to Delta.

The cause of the plane crash is still under investigation by the Canadian Transportation Safety Board with assistance from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board.

The aircraft's black box and cockpit voice recorder have been recovered from the wreckage.

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